Editor Visits and Publication Success

Marina Gertsberg () and Emmanuel Yimfor ()
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Marina Gertsberg: University of Melbourne
Emmanuel Yimfor: Columbia University

No 18922, IZA Discussion Papers from IZA Network @ LISER

Abstract: Professionals invest heavily in gaining brief access to gatekeepers, yet we know little about whether such encounters affect career outcomes. We ask whether an editor's seminar visit raises junior scholars' chances of publishing in that editor's journal. We link seminar visits at top-100 U.S. finance departments to junior faculty publication histories and editorial rosters of leading economics and finance journals. Because departments select whom to invite and editors choose where to visit, we exploit seminar rotation norms: departments typically wait several years before re-inviting a speaker, generating predictable variation in the timing of editor visits. Effects are close to zero at two-, three-, and four-year horizons. We rule out increases of 50 percent or more relative to baseline at every horizon, and of 30 percent or more after three and four years. Point estimates are more positive for women, scholars at lower-ranked schools, editors who visit fewer schools, and pairs with greater research overlap, suggesting information or access benefits. We find no persistent gains outside the editor's journal. A single editor visit yields no large average publication gain, though smaller gains where access is scarce remain possible.

Keywords: professional networks; academic publishing; editorial favoritism; personal connections; causal inference (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A11 A14 D83 I23 L82 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-09
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